Re:Why did John McCarthy "discover" lisp?
by unimpressive on Friday April 05, 2013 @01:16AM
(#5496900)
>Am I missing something?
Yes.
Consider the parentheses in an s-expression.
(function foo bar)
The s-expression is a universal structure that can be used for every construct in a lisp. Notice that the core structure is not changed if we replace the parentheses with say, semi-colons.
;function foo bar;
The core of the concept remains the same. McCarthy's discovery is classed as such because as a construct s-expressions can be crafted from any set of symbols.[0]
[0]: This statement is probably false in more ways than one, that still doesn't damage my point.
Yes.
Consider the parentheses in an s-expression.
(function foo bar)
The s-expression is a universal structure that can be used for every construct in a lisp. Notice that the core structure is not changed if we replace the parentheses with say, semi-colons.
;function foo bar;
The core of the concept remains the same. McCarthy's discovery is classed as such because as a construct s-expressions can be crafted from any set of symbols.[0]
[0]: This statement is probably false in more ways than one, that still doesn't damage my point.